5 ms·

>Why do most people fail to walk even the 10,000 daily steps needed to stay healthy? Where does that figure come from? A lazy guestimate of 1m/stride puts tha

>Why do most people fail to walk even the 10,000 daily steps needed to stay healthy? Where does that figure come from? A lazy guestimate of 1m/stride puts that at 10km/day. That's 2 hours of walking a day. Who the hell spends 2 hours a day walking?

flexd 13y ago
I don't know where the 10,000 daily steps figure comes from, but moving around more than two hours daily seems like a fairly reasonable thing to do in order to remain healthy. Or maybe run for 45 minutes, or walk to work, or go swimming or do a ton of other physical activities I am not going to bother listing. Personally I ride mountain bikes in every way possible, and time permitting also as often as possible.
AznHisoka 13y ago
2 hours straight, no. but it adds up: 10 minutes to the train station 5 minutes transferring trains 10 minutes to work. 10 minutes to your desk 20 minutes to lunch and back. 10 minutes to train station 10 minutes home 10 minutes walking around home etc..
- lucaspiller 13y ago
  I used to live in a city centre without a car. My office was only a 20 minute walk (or about the same by bus due to traffic), so I did that usually. If I wanted to go shopping it was about 10 minutes to the nearest mall. I used Moves [0] to track how much I walked, and it was around 60km/week. [0] - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moves/id509204969 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moves/id509204969
showerst 13y ago
Here's an about.com article that says it's medically unsupported. [1] (about.com isn't a great source but hey it's someone who's looked into it) http://walking.about.com/od/measure/f/10000steps.htm http://walking.about.com/od/measure/f/10000steps.htm FWIW I live in central DC and walk for about 90% of my total trips (although I have a sedentary job and a short commute), and the moves app says I go roughly 3mi/day, which squares with my intuition looking at a map.
pgrote 13y ago
The same people who gave us the drink 8 glasses of water a day. I did find two studies related to amount of walking to show health benefits: http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199723050-00004#page-1 http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199723050-... http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/handle/2436/11110 http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/handle/2436/11110 No mention of number of steps. I think people add it for a way to equate a certain amount of time walking.
b3b0p 13y ago
From my experience, walking for 45-60 minutes in addition to my daily routine (the items mentioned by other posters already) add up to about the 10,000 step goal. I try to bike to work every day and/or walk about 5km in addition to anything else I do (work, lifting weights, etc). I don't measure (anymore). I just try to move my body as much as I can when I can.
- biondim 13y ago
  I have a fit bit. I agree, the more you do it, the easier it gets. It's just one of those things. I try to walk to work every day if possible - it's about 3 mi each way. Walking is a much nicer way to start the day compared to mass transit.
nilsbunger 13y ago
Fitbit promotes the 10,000 step number. They have a blog post with links to sources. http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=194 http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=194 Having several family members with fit bits, I can tell you it's definitely do-able. It adds up more quickly than you think!
biondim 13y ago
It's an arbitrary number that the media likes to tout. There's no real number. 10km / day is about right. If you break it up into pieces (walk to the subway, walk around the office, walk home), it really isn't that big a deal.
VLM 13y ago
Extensive personal experience with a fitbit indicates that: 1) Its downright difficult to get thru even the laziest day without 4000 or so steps 2) 10K means you "exercised" perhaps an hour. I'm not talking about sprint training but went out for a walk, hiking, etc. Half hour at lunchtime won't quite do it (maybe if you speedwalk?) 3) Its really easy to leave the GD thing in your pocket and wash it. Although running thru a dryer cycle immediately will fix it. 4) low power BT is kind of like NFC. There's apple products, and a couple android devices claim to half A support it but in reality it doesn't work. So in real world practice its apple or nothing for NFC and low power BT aka BT 4.0. And its been that way for some years.
- sarah2079 13y ago
  1 & 2 agree with my experience, and I am very sedentary during work hours.
- michael_h 13y ago
  I dramatically increased the number of steps that I take per day by drinking more water and tea. I hit 8K before I go home easily everyday.
patmcc 13y ago
Commute to/from work: 50 minutes. Walking in lunch hour: 50 minutes. Walking in the evening to relax: 20 minutes. Not to mention the trips to the washroom/photocopier/kitchen/whatever. It's not hard to do, especially if you avoid driving when you can. There are lots of people who spend 2 hours a day driving, yet oddly that doesn't seem as crazy to you?
beat 13y ago
Who the hell spends 2 hours a day walking? Healthy people. My Fitbit defaults to wanting to see 10k steps a day, and 5 miles a day, which is more than 10k steps for my stride. My daily average steps is a bit over 8400 (including jogging for a bit less than 5k twice a week or so), and my average mileage is 3.8. I typically take one walk a day during work, for maybe 1000 steps.
- flexd 13y ago
  Now if only I would remember to wear my Fitbit. I keep forgetting I've put it to charge and never put it on.

flexd 13y ago

I don't know where the 10,000 daily steps figure comes from, but moving around more than two hours daily seems like a fairly reasonable thing to do in order to remain healthy. Or maybe run for 45 minutes, or walk to work, or go swimming or do a ton of other physical activities I am not going to bother listing. Personally I ride mountain bikes in every way possible, and time permitting also as often as possible.

AznHisoka 13y ago

2 hours straight, no. but it adds up: 10 minutes to the train station 5 minutes transferring trains 10 minutes to work. 10 minutes to your desk 20 minutes to lunch and back. 10 minutes to train station 10 minutes home 10 minutes walking around home etc..

lucaspiller 13y ago
I used to live in a city centre without a car. My office was only a 20 minute walk (or about the same by bus due to traffic), so I did that usually. If I wanted to go shopping it was about 10 minutes to the nearest mall. I used Moves [0] to track how much I walked, and it was around 60km/week. [0] - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moves/id509204969 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moves/id509204969

showerst 13y ago

Here's an about.com article that says it's medically unsupported. [1] (about.com isn't a great source but hey it's someone who's looked into it) http://walking.about.com/od/measure/f/10000steps.htm http://walking.about.com/od/measure/f/10000steps.htm FWIW I live in central DC and walk for about 90% of my total trips (although I have a sedentary job and a short commute), and the moves app says I go roughly 3mi/day, which squares with my intuition looking at a map.

pgrote 13y ago

The same people who gave us the drink 8 glasses of water a day. I did find two studies related to amount of walking to show health benefits: http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199723050-00004#page-1 http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199723050-... http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/handle/2436/11110 http://wlv.openrepository.com/wlv/handle/2436/11110 No mention of number of steps. I think people add it for a way to equate a certain amount of time walking.

b3b0p 13y ago

From my experience, walking for 45-60 minutes in addition to my daily routine (the items mentioned by other posters already) add up to about the 10,000 step goal. I try to bike to work every day and/or walk about 5km in addition to anything else I do (work, lifting weights, etc). I don't measure (anymore). I just try to move my body as much as I can when I can.

biondim 13y ago
I have a fit bit. I agree, the more you do it, the easier it gets. It's just one of those things. I try to walk to work every day if possible - it's about 3 mi each way. Walking is a much nicer way to start the day compared to mass transit.

nilsbunger 13y ago

Fitbit promotes the 10,000 step number. They have a blog post with links to sources. http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=194 http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=194 Having several family members with fit bits, I can tell you it's definitely do-able. It adds up more quickly than you think!

biondim 13y ago

It's an arbitrary number that the media likes to tout. There's no real number. 10km / day is about right. If you break it up into pieces (walk to the subway, walk around the office, walk home), it really isn't that big a deal.

VLM 13y ago

Extensive personal experience with a fitbit indicates that: 1) Its downright difficult to get thru even the laziest day without 4000 or so steps 2) 10K means you "exercised" perhaps an hour. I'm not talking about sprint training but went out for a walk, hiking, etc. Half hour at lunchtime won't quite do it (maybe if you speedwalk?) 3) Its really easy to leave the GD thing in your pocket and wash it. Although running thru a dryer cycle immediately will fix it. 4) low power BT is kind of like NFC. There's apple products, and a couple android devices claim to half A support it but in reality it doesn't work. So in real world practice its apple or nothing for NFC and low power BT aka BT 4.0. And its been that way for some years.

sarah2079 13y ago
1 & 2 agree with my experience, and I am very sedentary during work hours.
michael_h 13y ago
I dramatically increased the number of steps that I take per day by drinking more water and tea. I hit 8K before I go home easily everyday.

patmcc 13y ago

Commute to/from work: 50 minutes. Walking in lunch hour: 50 minutes. Walking in the evening to relax: 20 minutes. Not to mention the trips to the washroom/photocopier/kitchen/whatever. It's not hard to do, especially if you avoid driving when you can. There are lots of people who spend 2 hours a day driving, yet oddly that doesn't seem as crazy to you?

beat 13y ago

Who the hell spends 2 hours a day walking? Healthy people. My Fitbit defaults to wanting to see 10k steps a day, and 5 miles a day, which is more than 10k steps for my stride. My daily average steps is a bit over 8400 (including jogging for a bit less than 5k twice a week or so), and my average mileage is 3.8. I typically take one walk a day during work, for maybe 1000 steps.

flexd 13y ago
Now if only I would remember to wear my Fitbit. I keep forgetting I've put it to charge and never put it on.